Remember That Time
by Vanilla Coated Love
Summary: Here's what we've got... memories being remembered, seeing the gang again after so many years, and let's not forget the beer. Beer was important. Long story short? A high school reunion. But still, there were some memories better left buried in the past. "Hey, do you remember that time when..."
1. Prologue: A Call

**Remember That Time**

by: _Vanilla Coated Love_

_Here's what we've got... memories being remembered, seeing the gang again after so many years, and let's not forget the beer. Beer was important. Long story short?  
A high school reunion.  
But still, there were some memories better left buried in the past.  
"Hey, do you remember that time when..."_

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Gakuen Alice

* * *

_"If every single second could last that much longer,_  
_would you hold me... and kiss me again?_  
_Underneath the moonlight."_

_-We Are The In Crowd_

**Prologue: A Call**

She wasn't going.

When she got that long distance call from Mikan Sakura, she was surprised. What did the idiot want? But yeah, idiot or not, she had to admit, Mikan was still one of her closest friends.

She raised her hand to catch her proffesor's attention.

"Yes…" the professor asked as he checked the seat plan. "… miss Shouda?"

Half of the class turned their gazes towards her, wondering if she had a question to ask or what the matter was. Sumire pointed towards the direction where the door was.

The professor understood. "Ah, yes. You may."

Once she was out, she answered her phone. "Shouda here."

No hellos whatsoever. They were that comfortable with each other.

"Permy!" the person from the other end of the line exclaimed. "I miss you!"

She rolled her eyes. "Please stop calling me Permy."

A short pause. "Oy, a normal person would say 'I miss you too', you know."

"That's because I don't."

A long pause. "YOU ARE EVIL, SUMIRE."

She smiled at the mention of her name. "Much better."

"I swear. Sometimes you and Hotaru are the same when it comes to bullying me."

"That's because you don't act your age."

"Ugh. You bitch."

Sumire couldn't refrain herself from letting out a chuckle. "Not exactly the act your age thing that I was talking about, but close enough."

She searched for the giant wall clock in the hallway, the one near rge drinking fountain, and checked the time.

_8:43 am_

Before Mikan could reply, Sumire added, "hey, isn't it around seven in the morning there?"

"Just about, yeah. Why?"

"I'm surprised you're awake."

"PEOPLE CHANGE. God. I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you."

"You called me, Mikan."

Sumire could imagine her friend mentally slapping herself.

"Oh. Right. Sooo… guess what?" Mikan asked excitedly.

"I hate guessing."

"Don't be a kill joy. Guess!"

"At least give me a clue."

Mikan considered this. "It's fun," she gave, moments later.

"Me ending this call so that I could go back to class?"

"Sumire!"

"C'mon. just spill it. You're the one calling. Wonder how much this call will cost for you…"

Mikan swore. "I forgot. You just had to move out of the country. Nevermind. So yeah, I was grocery shopping the other day and guess who I bumped into?"

"I hate guessing," Sumire reminded Mikan yet again.

"You're a boring person. Anna! I saw Anna! The last time we saw each other was after high school graduation! Honestly, Japan isn't that big of a country. So after that we had coffee and talked for hours. She owns a bakery in Tokyo! Isn't that great?" Mikan did not wait for Sumire's reply. "Then, when we went our separate ways, I realized-"

This cannot be good.

"- that it has been seven years!"

Sumire was waiting for Mikan to continue but nothing followed.

"Uh, yeah. It has been seven years," Sumire said, not quite following.

"I thought I was the slow one… we freaking need a high school reunion! I talked to Hotaru about it and she said it was a great idea! Well, she didn't really say those words exactly. More like stupid. But stupid for Hotaru means great, right? And blah blah blah. Just mark your calendar, Permy. Book a flight. Pack your bags. You are spending the holidays with us!"

Us.

"What do you mean by 'us', Mikan? The entire batch?"

"Uhm, just the gang," Mikan answered nervously.

"Enumerate."

"All?"

"Yes."

The brunette heaved a sigh. "You, me, Hotaru, Anna, Nonoko, and uhhh… the guys."

"Mikan," I said in a tone that I often used when this idiot does something idiotic. "You're inviting him, aren't you?"

"He_ is_ part of the gang," Mikan reasoned. "Please, Permy. It's about time you two talked. No, scratch that. It's about time you talked to him."

Sumire tried to lower her voice. She didn't want any more attention from passerby. "No. I've been doing fine these past four years. I would like to keep it that way."

"Fine? You dropped out on our second year in college! You took off without a moment's notice! And and…" Mikan grunted, frustrated. "That's not fine at all."

Sumire twitched. She hated remembering. She hated this subject. And most importantly, she hated herself.

Still. Her mind was set. "I'm not going. If you're calling about giving me a lecture regarding my past actions and the decisions that I've made then I'm hanging up. I have class." She was being unfair, Sumire knew that but she does not need this right now.

"Sorry. I didn't… sorry. Just don't decide right away. There's still a month and a couple of weeks before December. Think it over."

Sumire switched her mobile phone to her left ear. "Fine." She wasn't sure if she meant it though. She just wanted Mikan to stop bickering about it. One thing was sure, it was a bad idea.

"Yes! You, my friend, are awesome!" Mikan said. "I better go, I'm late for work. Say hi to Kimiko for me. I'll call in a day or two. Bye!"

"I will. Bye, freak."

The call ended and before Sumire could go back to class her phone rang once again. Thinking that her friend forgot to say something, she answered it without looking who was actually calling.

"What now?"

There was a soft giggle, and Sumire knew right away who it was. "Mommy!" said a bubbly voice.

She peeked inside the class and saw the professor still going on with his discussion. Some of the students weren't even listening.

Yeah, Sumire still had time to spare. She couldn't help but smile. "Hi, honey."

* * *

**Author's Note**: I guess this is a bit different from what you're used to (from me, that is). Obviously this is a Koko-Sumire (I love these two) fic but there will be a couple of other pairings in future chapters.

Sorry for any grammatical errors.

Sooo, what do you think? Interesting? Not really? Leave a review? :)

-_VCL_ (11/02/12)


	2. Chapter 1: Mikan's Rule

"_See I've been waiting all day  
__For you to call me, baby  
__So let's get up, let's get on it  
__Don't you leave me brokenhearted tonight."  
__-Karmin_

**Chapter 1: Mikan's Rule**

Mikan Sakura was a lot of things…

…but stupid wasn't one of them.

She may not be the next Einstein but she was not dense. Her friends, most especially those who have known her since high school or even elementary tend to tease her still, but they knew better. Hell, she graduated college with honors. She showed them all right. Mikan was still the same optimistic girl from before who persevered throughout her studies. She had a rule and she kept on reminding herself while she was still in university, _no distractions_.

As long as you have your goal set, nothing and no one can stop you. Being distracted from that goal was a big no.

Life turned out to be pretty good for her with that rule in mind.

But the day they bumped into each other again… she let her guard down. The rule was instantly forgotten. It was as if it never even existed. She was Mikan Sakura from high school all over again.

And how she regretted it.

Mikan after so many years… felt stupid. All because of him.

But anyway, there were more important matters to attend to. Her love life was the least of those problems.

She was finally at her apartment after a long day at work. Their editor-in-chief kept on pestering them for brand new ideas for next month's magazine issue of _Infinite_, her dream company. Only a few got in and being a fresh graduate then Mikan was pretty sure that she wouldn't get in, but still, she tried.

Obviously, she got in.

See? Her rule was epic.

It only failed her once.

Mikan was in her study, planning out their mini high school reunion set for December at her best friend's, Hotaru Imai, family owned resort. She had doubts, Hotaru, even asked her if she was sure about this two weeks ago before Hotaru left for her business trip.

"Of course I'm sure! We haven't met the others in _years_."

Unlike the others, Mikan, Hotaru, and Sumire kept in touch with each other. Especially after Sumire gave birth to dear sweet Kimiko. Mikan just couldn't leave her friend on her own.

Plus, babies were cute.

"I know that," came Hotaru's monotone voice. "I was asking about the list of invitations."

Mikan knew where this conversation was going but she couldn't face it. Instead she pretended not to know a thing. "Yeah, I'll send the emails the day after tomorrow."

"You want names, Mikan?"

She froze and didn't utter a single word.

Mikan visited Hotaru at work that day, the two were having a cup of tea in her office. Hotaru had her own office already. She had gone a long way; Mikan was proud of her. Still she looked just the same. Her was still cut short in a boyish manner but it suited her, it brought out her facial features even more, her amethyst eyes were emotionless as ever, she rarely smiled, and she still called Mikan an idiot.

Some things just never change.

There was an unnerving silence that followed. Hotaru decided to break it after taking a sip of her tea.

"Are you sure you want Koko and Natsume to be there?"

Hotaru meant no harm but there were just times when Mikan hated how her friend knew her so well.

"Let's not tal-"

"Talk about this," Hotaru finished for her. Oh, they had this conversation before. Hundreds of times. "You can't run away from this, Mikan. And I think a reunion is a great idea but… is Sumire even ready to tell Koko? No, forget that, are _you_ ready for this? You are honestly forcing this."

"What happened between me and…" she struggled to say his name. "Between me and Natsume was two years ago, Hotaru. It's all in the past."

"You didn't answer my question. You think seeing Natsume again won't bring back memories?" Hotaru crossed her legs. She can be scary sometimes, like right now, especially in her corporate attire. The young lady had power. Mikan felt lucky Hotaru wasn't her boss. "You haven't even forgiven the guy, Mikan. Does Sumire even know what happened to you and Natsume? She's your friend. She has the right to know."

_Please stop mentioning his name over and over._

"I'm fine."

Hotaru didn't buy it.

"I mean it. I'm fine. I'm over him. This will be good; a reunion is just what we need." Mikan grabbed her bag, avoiding her friend's eyes. "Listen, I have to go. Lunch break's almost over, I need to head back to work."

Before she left the room Hotaru called out, "I'm on your side, Mikan. Don't you forget that."

After that Hotaru left for her business trip and she won't be back until next week.

The young brunette heaved a sigh after remembering her little encounter with her best friend. She decided to distract herself by checking her email if there were any replies from the invitations that she sent.

There was one.

It was from Koko.

Mikan grabbed her phone immediately, almost knocking out the picture frame on her desk, and dialed Sumire's number.

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**Author's Notes**:

Told you there will be other pairings. ;)

Next chapter will be longer. I swear, writing in third person's confusing, and I'm not sure with the tenses. Still, this fic is fun to write.

Updating this chapter a day before my FFN birthday. Five years. I've been on this site for five years already. :")

Til the next chapter!

-_Vanilla Coated Love_ (11/12/12; 10:44 PM)


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